Adding weight for fresh to salt

[shogan]

Ok I played around a little tonight to find the right amount of weight without being over weighted. I got it down to 9lbs. If I held a full breath I would rise upwards. hold Med breath in my lungs depth would hold stable. Let all air our sink to bottom.

I was Not wearing wetsuit, in freshwater, indoor pool, mostly full tank.

So if 9lbs was perfect for a full tank then is where I"m at how much would I add for wet suit.

How much would I add for salt water,

And salt water with full wetsuit on.

Any educated guesses or to many variables.

 

[vladimir]

Take the wetsuit, throw it into the pool, and then pile weights on it until it sinks. That'll be how much you need to add for the wetsuit.

You need to weight yourself to allow you to hold a stop with a near-empty tank, not a full one, so you should be heavy by the weight of your gas at the beginning of your dive.

You can convert your freshwater weighting to saltwater by multiplying your total weight (you + full gear, including weights) by .025 and adding that amount.

 

[DiveGear4Less]

Ok I played around a little tonight to find the right amount of weight without being over weighted. I got it down to 9lbs. If I held a full breath I would rise upwards. hold Med breath in my lungs depth would hold stable. Let all air our sink to bottom.

I was Not wearing wetsuit, in freshwater, indoor pool, mostly full tank.

So if 9lbs was perfect for a full tank then is where I"m at how much would I add for wet suit.

How much would I add for salt water,

And salt water with full wetsuit on.

Any educated guesses or to many variables.

Too many variables. Each wet suit is different, so there isn't a single response that will cover all of them. Bodies of salt water are also different. While in most cases adding 2-4 lbs will be enough to compensate for the added density of salt water, some bodies of water are denser and will require a little more weight.

 

[vladimir]

Bodies of salt water are also different. While in most cases adding 2-4 lbs will be enough to compensate for the added density of salt water, some bodies of water are denser and will require a little more weight.

Assuming you're not diving the Dead Sea or some similar body of unusual salinity, the specific density of seawater will vary between 1.02 and 1.03, for the most part, and 1.025 will be a close enough approximation for the purpose of weighting a diver. Even if the diver with kit weighs 400 pounds--hopefully not the case here--the conversion will be within 2 pounds of the correct figure, in the worst case, while "adding 2-4 lbs" might be off by as many as 10. Ultimately, weighting has to be fine-tuned in the water, but doing the arithmetic is a sensible way to get a starting point.

 

[dkktsunami]

Ok I played around a little tonight to find the right amount of weight without being over weighted. I got it down to 9lbs. If I held a full breath I would rise upwards. hold Med breath in my lungs depth would hold stable. Let all air our sink to bottom.

I was Not wearing wetsuit, in freshwater, indoor pool, mostly full tank.

So if 9lbs was perfect for a full tank then is where I"m at how much would I add for wet suit.

How much would I add for salt water,

And salt water with full wetsuit on.

Any educated guesses or to many variables.

What size tanks, Alum. or steel? What thickness of wet suit? Carrying equipment (lights, reels,etc)? Put all the stuff on that you intend to wear, 500 psi in tank, 10' depth, and minimize your weight. Add 6 lbs for salt if you are in the "normal" size range.

 

[DiveGear4Less]

Assuming you're not diving the Dead Sea or some similar body of unusual salinity, the specific density of seawater will vary between 1.02 and 1.03, for the most part, and 1.025 will be a close enough approximation for the purpose of weighting a diver. Even if the diver with kit weighs 400 pounds--hopefully not the case here--the conversion will be within 2 pounds of the correct figure, in the worst case, while "adding 2-4 lbs" might be off by as many as 10. Ultimately, weighting has to be fine-tuned in the water, but doing the arithmetic is a sensible way to get a starting point.

While the average density isn't that different, my real world diving experience has resulted in a couple more lbs of lead in certain bodies of salt water than in others.